Quittintime: Latest EZSmart Guide-Merry Christmas Ryan!

Yesterday, on the way home from the union meeting where a thin majority voted to continue the strike we're on at work, I found in my mailbox Calvin's check for the auction proceeds to buy Christmas presents for Ryan. Once again, I am humbled by the love and concern all you wonderful people have shown for my son. I don't know what else to say, except to post the following message I have sent to everyone I know who's been part of this with us. May you all have a wonderful Christmas, and know that you have made ours so much brighter....

As this year comes to a close, with uncertainty still reigning and fear kept at bay only through your love and help, I have to utter a most heartfelt, humble thank you to all of you.

While Christmas is over for Ryan and me, I know it is yet to come for most of you. May you bask in the glow of the love of your children, and be awestruck once again by the glory of Mother Nature's winter serenity. May each of you breathe the peace of a snow-filled forest, and hear the echoes of children laughing across the mountains and valleys. May the innocent child in you overpower your daily adult woes; and may the children you have borne into this world overpower the sadness that is too often our lot and our fault, and give us new hope, as may their children do in turn for them....

For being there for Ryan and me; for preventing me from losing all faith in human goodness; for providing moral, spiritual, and in some cases, 'structural' support during this very difficult year, I thank you in my son's name.

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HOLD YOUR GROUND!
A day may come when the courage of men fails...
But it is not THIS day.